Friday, May 25, 2012

I have been cooking for at least 30 years on my own and before that with the help of my mother and I always thought I knew how to cook rice. You add the rice to water... for each cup of rice, double the water, some salt and oil, bring the water to a boil and then simmer it for around 20 minutes... RIGHT??????
BUZZ, WRONG... at least in our house that is wrong. I now bring my water to a boil and don't turn the heat down right away and cook my rice for much longer... sometimes it is so stuck to the pot I am not sure it will come out... but it does. My husband likes his rice crunchy... so cooking it longer will make it crunchy. Once the rice is cooked, I now turn the heat down and keep on cooking my rice. Then about 5 minutes before I serve it, I turn the heat off and by magic the rice comes right out of the pot. I do take the stuff that was stuck to the side and serve it to my husband. I am no so much partial to crunchy rice.. it is OK but a full plate of it no.
We do have rice often in our house and that is also one of my staples in the fridge. I also learnt that reheating it in the microwave is also a big WRONG... but I still do it. The right way to do it is put it back in the pot with a small amount of water and reboil it. One of the ways we do eat rice is with chicken soup... A plate full of rice, a bowl full of soup... What could go wrong.

Chicken Soup and Rice

Chicken soup and rice.

Ingredients:

Stewing Chicken

Water - about 4 -5 cups

Salt

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp tomato paste or 1 small can tomato sauce

1 large tomato

1 clove garlic

1 onion

1 tbsp ginger

1 tbsp anise

1 tsp kele (an african spice) - this can be skipped if you don't have it

1 chicken maggi cube

1 tbsp maggi liquid seasoning

hot pepper to taste

Cut up stewing chicken into small pieces, place in pot with water to cover, ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp salt and small amount of sliced onions. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 -2 hours until chicken is tender. Once chicken is tender add more water to equal 4- 5 cups of water. Add 1 tbsp on tomato paste or 1 small can of tomato sauce. ( I prefer tomato paste but if you are out, tomato sauce will work). If you want a darker broth add more tomato paste. Bring to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes. Grind tomato and garlic and place in pot. Add seasonings - ginger, anise, kele, maggi cube and liquid seasoning and hot pepper. Add more salt to taste. Simmer for about 1/2 hour. Prior to serving add more thinly sliced onions to taste.

chicken defrosting in water...

Spices - this is double the amount used

ingredients in the pot

giving the pot a stir

Simmering the soup......

Once again, these measurements are just a suggestion. The best way to make a good soup is let it simmer, taste it and smell it... add more spices if needed. The longer soup simmers, the better it tastes, the flavors blend together... Enjoy with crunchy rice.

Monday, May 21, 2012

In my fridge at just about any given time you will find some rice and a sauce to use with it. I have learnt that you don't eat rice plain. This sauce can be used for just about anything... rice, pasta, corn porridge, yams (boiled or fried), rice and beans... or as my husband uses it when he really doesn't like what I have made or thinks it needs more flavor. Also this sauce can have chicken, beef, pork or smoked salmon or a combination of all. When I am running out... I will just make more and throw the leftovers into the new stuff...
I think that I have come to perfected this recipe as I have made it many times... I have been told that my sauce is as good as my mother-in-laws.........So I think that is a great compliment, as if anyone tells you that your cooking is better then their mother, especially if it is your husband, it is a compliment. We have made this for many of our guests and I have made it for a church fundraiser and have also taken it to work and everyone praises it.
As with most of my cooking, I have never really used a recipe but I will try to write it down as close to possible as I can. With the spices, most of it is to taste..

Cook oil and tomato paste together until mixed, you may have to add a small amount of water if not mixed properly. Once cooked add a small amount of thinly slice onions, anise, and ginger and bring to boil... and then turn down to a simmer.

Grind tomatoes, small amount of onions, and garlic. I put them in mortar and use pestle to grind or I will also use my food processor. If I use the food processor - I cook this mixture for a few minutes to decrease the liquids. Once mixture is mixed to the texture you want -- either very fine or with pieces place in oil and tomato. Bring to a boil and then simmer again for about 5 minutes or so. Add maggi cube and maggi liquid seasoning. Add hot pepper - I do sometimes add the pepper to the mortar with the tomatoes, onions and garlic.

Add meat and cook at simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Add salt to taste at this time. I also may add more anise and ginger to taste. Before serving add more thinly sliced onions to mixture (these onions are not cooked but fresh in the sauce this way).

* When I use beef, I will cook the beef in water with onion and a bought ginger garlic paste about 1 tbsp until water is reduced - approximately 1 hour. I then add 2 tbsp oil and cook the meat until crispy on all sides. I do buy roasts or steaks on sale and cut into small pieces - if they seem tough I cook them in the water mixture longer.

* When I use chicken I cook them in 2 tbsp oil with minced ginger and garlic or the garlic/ginger paste until crispy on all sides.

* If I use a food processor to puree my tomato mixture I will add 1 more tomato cut in small pieces.

* I do freeze my tomato paste when I open a can.. I freeze it in about 1 -2 tbsp sizes, so when cooking in oil it may splatter, so be careful. Also the tomato paste may look like it is burning when you are cooking it as it will turn a black colour in spots... this is ok and gives flavor to the sauce.

*This sauce may look oily... if you don't want as much oil, just skim it off. If serving with rice or rice and beans the oil will be absorbed by the rice.

tomato paste in oil

onions, garlic, tomatoes

using pestle and mortar

adding spices

adding tomato mixture to oil and tomato paste

adding onion and hot pepper

smoked salmon added to mixture

eating the sauce with fried yams... YUM!

I hope that this recipe will give you some idea of how to make this sauce. Yesterday when I made this meal to take for my co-workers, the doctor that was on duty said cooking is better when you taste and add.. That is exactly how I cook. I taste and then add spices and this is also how my husband cooks.. they don't use measuring spoons or cups... they add a little, taste and then add more if needed. I have only given you a guideline as I believe everyone's taste is different and a recipe should be used as a guideline to make the creation your own.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

No, once again it isn't an African meal.... I need to get back to blogging about African cooking but as my menu is small... I need to fill in once in awhile with different things... So here it is different and I also needed to cook up a spaghetti squash that was sitting on my counter. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com but many comments said that it was bland... So after reading through the comments this is what I came up with:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Pierce spaghetti squash several times.... I used knife to do this and made small slashes around the squash. Place in microwaveable dish and cook for 10 minutes. Turn and cook for another 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Once cool to touch, cut lengthwise and remove seeds. Shred 1 cup of the squash and set in bowl. You will have lots leftover for another meal....
3. Place spinach in pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and remove from heat and drain. Once cool, cut in small pieces.
4. Place oil in pan, sauteed onion, garlic and mushrooms until soft. I added onion first and cooked for a few minutes and then added the garlic and mushrooms.
5. In bowl add the spaghetti squash, spinach and onion mixture. Stir in egg whites, beaten eggs, evaporated milk, cheese, and spices. Stir until well combined.
6. Spray 9 inch pie plate or quiche pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle bread crumbs to bottom of dish. Pour in egg mixture.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. I preferred it at room temperature.

And if you are a food blogger..... Take pictures throughout the recipe and at the end...

Bring Spinach and Kale to a boil. Drain and set aside.

mince garlic

slice mushrooms

Sauteing onions, garlic and mushrooms

cut spinach and kale in small pieces

shredded spaghetti squash and cut spinach

crumbs to bottom of pan

ready to go in oven..

and here is your piece. Enjoy!

I thought this had lots of flavor and will certainly enjoy the leftovers, unless you would like to come and have some.... Now to figure out what to do with the leftover spaghetti squash...
Till next time...